The Albany Patroons are 3-0 on this young TBL season, having claimed victories in their three home games, to remain tied atop the TBL’s North Atlantic division.
At the same time, the New York Phoenix, the expansion team in Schenectady with a ton of Albany Patroons heritage and legacy, has jumped out to a 2-0 record and is tied in winning percentage with Albany for the North Atlantic Division lead.
At some point in the season, both teams must eventually face each other.
The first of those four regular season face-offs begins tonight at Armory Studios NY, when the Patroons visit the Phoenix in a battle of unbeatens.
Courtside seating is already sold out, and there are very few general admission tickets left – which makes this game a must-attend on the local sports calendar.
Comparatively, this is on the level of Red Sox-Yankees, or Steelers-Ravens, or Rangers-Devils. Both teams had this date circled on their calendar. A win will give one of these squads bragging rights for the season, no matter how the other three regular season matchups between the Patroons and the Phoenix appear.
So let’s look at the player stats going into this battle.
The Patroons’ top scorers this season so far include new talents Trahson Burrell (21.0 ppg), Josh Morris (19.0 ppg), and Elijah “Boogie” Ford (12.0 ppg), while returning Patroons Phil Flory (18.7) and Ja’Quaye James (17.7) show their shine. Not to be outdone, the New York Phoenix’ top three gunners are former Patroons – Shadell Millinghaus (25.5 ppg), AJ Mosby (21.5 ppg) and Mustapha Traore (17.0 ppg).
On the defensive side, the Phoenix’ top rebounder is Qadir Welton, with 8 boards per game, followed by Millinghaus (7.5 rpg), Mosby (7.0 rpg) and another former Patroon, Arsenio Arrington (7.0 rpg). Matching up on the glass for Albany will be Burrell (8.7 rpg), Ford (6.3 rpg) and Derrick Rowland Jr. (6.3 rpg).
Currently, NY Phoenix star Shadell Millinghaus (who earned TBL Player of the Week honors in the first week of play) is currently eighth in the league in points per game (25.5), and is also perfect from the free-throw line, averaging 6.5 free throw completions per game. On the other side of the line, Albany’s Ja’Quaye James currently has a 5.0 steals per game average, tied for best in the 34-team TBL circuit.
At the moment, both teams are thriving in the TBL, which is what Capital District hoops fans will love. I know I do. I mean, yeah, I’ll wear my Patroons gear to the event, because – well – I’ve been gold and kelly green for the past forty years, why stop now? But that doesn’t mean that I’m turning my back on the Phoenix and their top talent and organization. I cheered for those guys in the past, I can’t just boo them because they’re wearing different clothing. So I’ll choose my general admission seat in Armory Studios to be as neutral as possible.
This is the big game. No doubt about it whatsoever.
And I’m good with that.
Put the ball in the air right now.
Let’s do this.
Chuck The Writer 
You must be logged in to post a comment.